"Quite frankly, I am not prepared to move ahead on this until we get further information," said the Republican, referring to questions she said she posed last February during that year's budget discussion.

Tarkington said she wanted to know more about increases in operating costs for the proposed 275-person occupancy pool compared to the current pool's 40-person maximum.

"I am not satisfied with the information we have received," she said Tuesday during a BET Budget Committee meeting. "I don't think this project is ready yet for the additional amount."

The four-member budget committee will vote on its 2013-14 budget recommendations Thursday before the package goes before the full BET and, later, the Representative Town Meeting.

Though Tarkington is opposed to the funding request for the pool, which is leaking water through cracks and has no restroom facilities, it does not appear to be enough to stall the funds.

Her three colleagues, fellow Republican and committee Chairman Joseph Pellegrino, and Democrats Jeffrey Ramer and William Finger, spoke in favor of moving the project along.

That should come as good news to Byram residents for whom the pool, the only public facility of its kind in Greenwich, is a source of embarrassment among residents of the neighborhood and the greater swimming community. The project's supporters, including the Junior League of Greenwich, have faced an years-long battle to secure preliminary funding.

The $200,000 would be used to commission more detailed drawings of the project and to steer it through the land use process.

The project, which has yet to be approved, will cost an estimated $7.5 million.

Finger said he saw the $200,000 as the natural next step in the process.

The Junior League of Greenwich will vote next week whether to add $20,000 to the project in addition to the $200,000.

Pellegrino also discussed what should be done about unfilled positions at the police department, which occur year after year.

He said the committee was told by Chief James Heavey that the department has a difficult time getting officers into the Connecticut Police Academy due to a backlog from all police departments across the state trying to enroll their applicants.

That has led to the department not meeting its 154-office complement, in fact, falling about 10 officers short.

Pellegrino called it a structural problem that Heavey, First Selectman Peter Tesei, who is also the police commissioner, and the BET should discuss. Pellegrino said one option may be to eliminate the vacant positions if they can't be filled, although he later said he favors the department filling the spots.

A message seeking comment was left with Heavey.

In other business, the committee nixed Parking Director Allen Corry's proposal to install ground-level gates at the Greenwich Plaza municipal parking. Committee members had questioned Cory's $187,000 proposal last week, saying it is too expensive and not necessary. There were also concerns that a malfunction of a gate, particularly on the Arch Street side where Exit 3 traffic streams by, could lead to traffic tie-ups.

Pellegrino spoke in favor of accelerating the Cos Cob park project on the site of the former Cos Cob power plant.

The project is slated to be funded at $2.3 million per year for the next three years. Pellegrino said he would like to see two years funding be put into one year. He was joined by Ramer and Finger.

"I think we should get this project done," Finger said.

Pellegrino also advocated trimming staff, including turning one full-time position in the six-person tax department into a permanent part-time position.

"If we don't start making some changes, they aren't going to happen," Pellegrino said. "The only way we are going to start changing the way government is run is by having the courage to make these changes."

Finger said he would make a motion on Thursday to cut the tax collector's $92,350 salary approximately in half. Saying it has nothing to do with the current tax collector, Republican Tod Laudonia, Finger said he has advocated the cut for the last few years.

The 12-member BET will hold a public hearing on the budget on March 19 and vote on it two days later. The RTM will then vote on the proposed budget, which currently stands at $426 million The BET can add or subtract to the budget, while the RTM can only subtract items from the plan.